San Diego home prices and values are doing just fine
By Melissa Wirkus
Many people have been overly concerned about the housing
market, especially when discussing San Diego.
This Southern California city has made headlines as
being one of the areas that has been hit the hardest
by our nation’s slowdown because of the tremendous
amount of price appreciation homes throughout the county
experienced. Home prices in most areas throughout San
Diego County doubled or even tripled in just a matter
of months.
Although many people have been concerned about the equity
and values of San Diego homes,
a new report suggests that homeowners here are still
doing just fine and continuing to make money off of
their homes.
A November 14, 2006 article by Roger M. Showley of The
San Diego Union Tribune, “Home sellers’
profits still big,” discusses how values throughout
the county are still high and there has been a reverse
in the price slides we have seen over the past few months.
“For all the concern about declining prices, recent
San Diego County home sellers are still making huge
profits, nearly doubling their investment in little
more than five years, according to a study by an Orange
County research firm that tracks real estate transactions.”
“The results showed that the recent San Diego
sellers made a median 91 percent profit on their homes,
having bought them typically 63 months ago for $269,000
and selling them for $512,500 – a $243,500 gain.”
But, according to the study, about 6.4 percent of the
people surveyed lost money.
This is a fairly small amount compared to what people
previously thought about the San Diego market.
It seems as if all of the concern about the values declining
is coming from people who were used to making a lot
more money off of their home during the housing boom.
“The desire to move up to a bigger, higher-priced
home naturally leads to sellers hoping to get top dollar
for their properties. But in the current market, when
inventories are large, buyers regularly are bidding
down the prices and sellers aren't pocketing as much
as they expected. ‘Most sellers are making money,
but they're crying that they aren't making as much,’
said Joe Scala, a Bay Park broker who has been selling
real estate for 20 years.”
Homeowners
need to just face the facts that the market is not what
it was a few years ago and adjust their hopes and expectations
accordingly.
In other good news about the housing market, there is
a lower inventory of homes for sales on the market and
the prices have stopped decreasing for the time being.
“San Diego County's housing price slide reversed
course last month and brought the median up $9,000 from
September to $485,000, DataQuick Information Systems
reported yesterday.”
It seems that if potential buyers in San Diego are finally
stepping up to the plate and making some home buying
transactions.
“‘Buyers can only stand on the sidelines
so long when interest rates are 6.25 to 6.50 percent,’
said Charles Jolly, president of the San Diego Association
of Realtors.
‘There's been enough information in the media
indicating that buyers
can negotiate and prices have softened.’ Jolly
said a lower inventory of homes on the market indicates
that sales are making a dent in the backlog.”
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